art in vienna and other stories

Vienna Contemporary 2018 Second part

As I already mentioned in the first part of the post about Vienna Contemporary, the countries present are mainly from Central- and Eastern Europe; still, few galleries come also from Korea, China, Northern Europe. A special focus is dedicated to Armenia after the recent Velvet Revolution, which took place in April and May 2018 and has revolutionised as well the national perception of art, creating a new dimension of artistic language that just until recent times has been the only way to protest.

What literally surprises me is when I see the name next to three drawings: Kostya Novoselov. And when I start reading the caption my supposition gets confirmed: he is the Konstantin Novoselov who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 for having succeeded in isolating a single layer of graphite, the exceptional graphene (and since I am a scientist too I like to show you the structure of both: the Art of Nature).

The three drawings are realised with the same material he has studied so extensively: graphene ink (and Chinese ink) on rice paper. I find this simply amazing.

Kostya Novoselov, New music, 2018

The molecular structure of graphene (a) and graphite (b) (fig. by Rory Brown taken from here)

And a huge Carrara marble from the artist Thom Puckey represents a naked woman walking on her knees and one hand while holding a gun and hiding a knife behind the back. I find impressive the contraposition between the use of such a classic and noble material to picture, in my opinion, what is probably one of the most controversial topics at the moment: the subordination of women, the social vulnerability that puts them –us – on a constant alert and defensive mode; and still the awareness and the strength to react in any possible way –with any possible means.

Annie Gentils Gallery – Antwerp (BE); artist: Thom Puckey

An interesting and varied collection of artworks is displayed by the H.A.N. Gallery from Seoul: a frame with overlaid grids that recreate a picture in black and white (SeungmoPark); a futuristic light installation (Susanne Rottenbacher); and some metal elephants whose legs recall the visionary animals of Dalì (Wook-Jang Cheung).

Gallery H.A.N. – Seoul (KR); various artists

Gallery H.A.N. – Seoul (KR); various artists

The Trafo Gallery, which I already mentioned in the first part of this post, offers as well some futuristic art, representing Michal Cimala with his robotic lit mannequins; while the Tobe Gallery exhibits some portrait photography in which the light (or better the darkness) and the subjects remind in a way the portrait paintings from the Renaissance, giving a timeless allure to the picture.

Tobe Gallery – Budapest (RM); artist: László Mészáros

At the booth of the Bechter Kastowsky Galerie the artworks acquire new dimensionality by hanging one on the other and getting complete by the wallpainting.

Bechter Kastowsky Galerie – Vienna (AT); artist: Philip Patkowitsch

These are just few examples I found interesting to mention, mainly to show the variety of the selections made for introducing what is going on in and around the European art world. I hope I did stimulate your curiosity, and maybe we’ll see each other there next year!

For galleries and artists out there, the call for 2019 is now open. Have fun with art!